Thu 14th Aug 08
Fight or Flight : 16 Millimetre
'Split me open and see my soul,' sings Tom Hoskins on New Face, the opening cut on 16 Millimetre's debut album. It's the perfect introduction to an extraordinary album. These dark urban tales will haunt you. Tom's voice is breathtaking – Bowie meets Jeff Buckley, capable of being both fragile and fierce.
The standout track is the should-be-an-Aussie-classic Saturday Night, a tale of 'tearing through the maelstrom', depicting the nervous energy of a night on the town, capturing the anticipation, excitement, desperation and frustration: 'I just need some flesh,' Tom sings, 'to feel myself, to feel all right.' 16 Millimetre have made a masterpiece. Australian beauty.
Readings Magazine - 14th August 2008
Tue 1st Jul 0816 Millimetre - Fight Or Flight (Album)
The first track of 16 Millimetre's debut album Fight Or Flight is a killer. Having never heard of the Melbourne 5-piece, I was prepared to write them off, but New Face- a haunting, angsty song that digs into your chest cavity and your brain and drags out all those lonely hopeless moments life has provided you - wouldn't let me. It's just that damn good. The song is beautiful, melodic, emotional, and is the perfect introduction to 16 Millimetre, a band that could be accurately described using those three words.
The next track, Better Than Life, brings to mind the likes of Crowded House and.. and.. okay, my lack of knowledge of 1980s Australian pop has finally bitten me in the ass. I can't name any more bands, but the music really has an Australian feel to it (but not in a stereotypical way), if that makes sense. That echoing clean guitar, the mournful tone, and the catchiness are all there.
Saturday Night catapults us right back into the present. A great, modern, indie-rock song with a Killers-via-Something For Kate vibe, this song is solid. I'm three tracks in and so far I haven't found a single flaw.
Over the other 8 tracks of this album, 16 Millimetre takes us on a journey through the darker corners of our memories, through the melancholy thoughts that flit around the wine-soaked mind of someone who has failed too many times to not care. The band provide a tried-and-true backing to the fantastically soaring and subtle tones of singer Tom Hoskins, whose lyrics are well-crafted in their simplicity. There are upbeat songs, there are downbeat songs, there is crunchy guitar and clean guitar, there are highs and lows.
This is an incredibly impressive debut album.
Reviewed by Benjaminnn for The Dwarf (
www.thedwarf.com.au), 1st July 2008
Wed 25th Jun 08
16 Millimetre In Focus
It's been a long time coming, but 16 Millimetre's debut album, Fight Or Flight, has been worth the wait. It's breathtakingly beautiful. Produced by Robbie Rowlands, it showcases the voice of Tom Hoskins, one of this city's finest singers.
The band explains that "Tom studied music under the auspices of Melbourne's public transport system. He writes songs on trams and fills pages with thoughts that change shapes into patterns and from patterns form music. Sometimes when the 96 tram rattles through Carlton, the score is full of joy, other times it is stained with angst, but it is always full of life in its flawed perfection."
More on 16 Millimetre in Howzat! soon. They launch Fight Or Flight at the East Brunswick Club on Saturday.
Inpress, 25th June 2008Fri 6th Apr 07SIXTEEN MILLIMETRE - SIMPLE
Melbourne band Sixteen Millimetre offer their EP Simple featuring the acclaimed single Cannonball. This 4 track treasure trove presents the listener with lush soundscapes, vivid imagery and emotive vocals. Everything needed to make this dramatic pop a truly enjoyable piece of music to listen to. Listening to them I am reminded of David Bowie, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds all rolled into one, but with Sixteen Millimetre's own touch of magic. The title track, 'Simple' is anything but. Layers upon layers of instrumentals build this song's atmospheric presence. You feel yourself drifting off into the clouds listening to this song. The song slowly builds from a serene beginning to a faster paced burst of energy. A good opening track to showcase their talents. 'More/less' is a lot more stripped back, with mostly vocals, guitars and drums. The kind of song you would listen to in a hotel, wasted from the night before. Brutal enough but still spaced out. 'Cannonball' is a very beautiful song and I can see why it was so critically acclaimed when it was released in 2005. Lead singer Tom Hoskins shows his range as a vocalist in this song. From the peaceful falsetto melancholy to the bittered anger he is able to create with his voice. He's able to draw you in and then spit you out again. 'The Breath of your Majesty' feels almost breathless listening to it. The imagery I would use to describe this song would be floating in the air and falling from the sky, but in a surreal, peaceful way. An absolute joy to listen to, these guys have the perfect balance between music, vocals and lyrics. Look out for more from these talented Melburnians, just on the verge of the release of their debut album in 2007 from Hive Records.
The Dwarf
Tuesday 6th March 2007
Mon 11th Dec 06SIXTEEN MILLIMETRE - SIMPLE
They might be called Sixteen Millimetre , but this Melbourne band definitely has big screen dreams think 70mm. This four-track EP featuring Simple, More/Less, Cannonball and The Breath Of Your Majesty introduces their brand of bold, dramatic pop. The centrepiece is Tom Hoskin's voice, a sublime instrument. One minute, it's subtle; the next, sharp. And then it soars
check out the achingly beautiful More/Less. Produced by Robbie Rowlands, instrumental in the development of Dallas Crane and The Fauves, are a good pointer to the quality that is Sixteen Millimetre .
Music Australia Guide
Monday 11, December 2006
Wed 24th May 06
THE FUTURE OF MELBOURNE ROCK?
A cold Melbourne Saturday night, four bands on a great bill at the Rob Roy, and Howzat! reckons two of them have got the ability to conquer the world. Sure, that's a big call, and you have to have a lot of luck to top the charts, but if sheer musical power has got anything to do with it, Sixteen Millimetre and Window could go all the way. How much life is left in the 60s and 70s rock revival? Sixteen Millimetre and Window bring us into the 90s and now. Sixteen Millimetre, with singer Tom Hoskins the best vocalist Howzat! has heard in the past year remind of Radiohead and Jeff Buckley, but they've also got their own thing going on. They have made an album with producer Robbie Rowlands (who was instrumental in the development of Dallas Crane and The Fauves). If it can capture the mood and textures that they have live, it will be a masterpiece. Window are more My Bloody Valentine, but with three captivating singers they make the shoe-gazing thing come to life. Memo to the American A&R executives who went ga-ga over Jet and Wolfmother get back on the plane and see Window and Sixteen Millimetre.
Jeff Jenkins
InPress Magazine
24th May 2006Wed 29th Jun 05
WIDESCREEN
"We're blessed with great bands and great music in this town,but you don't get the chills too often. You know, that spine-tingling feeling. I got it last Thursday night at Ding Dong. A band called Sixteen Millimetre . Their debut single, Cannonball , is a breathtaking piece of dramatic pop. But could they reproduce it live? They can. Frontman Tom Hoskins one helluva singer. You know when you see a band and you think, these guys are capable of anything? That's Sixteen Millimetre. It's Jeff Buckley meets Bowie, with lot's of other things going on. They're playing at the Vic Hotel in Brunswick on Friday."
Jeff Jenkins
InPress Magazine
Wed 29th Jun 05Mon 28th Feb 05
SINGLE OF THE WEEK
Sixteen Millimetre - Cannonball
Sixteen Millimetre are from Melbourne and are brave enough to refer to themselves as Post-Rock. But don't dismiss them yet. They have a secret weapon Earnestness.... For three minutes this drifts along on the entirely engaging falsetto of Mr Tom Hoskins and a single arpeggio guitar. One is born aloft by feelings of delicacy and beauty. But once the band have finished drinking their beers they join in with a satisfying thump and Mr Hoskins drops into an appealingly powerful baritone. For a moment they get all early rock Bowie on us... With big powerful chords, declamatory diction and shrewdly worded lyrics about the pain of being an inner city ingénue I could feel them winning me over...
The Single Guy
The Brag Magazine Issue 97
28th February 2005
